The IFE (The International Food and Drink Event at Excel) was a great event this year. In terms of produce, the big ingredients at the show were nettles, wild garlic and Jersey Royal potatoes.
For two days, I hosted, compered and did demos for the Great British Kitchen (GBK). Their stand was about showcasing British produce, British ingredients and British chefs. We were talking about everything from old-fashioned techniques to foraging to new modern twists on street food. On Tuesday, I was looking after the skillery for the Craft Guild of Chefs.
At GBK, chef Oliver Fox did ‘Back To The Future’. He took the concept of a carrot cake and turned it on its head. Everything about a carrot cake he deconstructed and turned into a showcase of heritage carrots.
Adrian Coulison from Eden Catering did a demo on the Great British feast. Huge platters are the new trend at weddings. Nothing is cut up and portioned – it’s help yourself and rip a leg off a chicken.
Michael Moore, a good old-fashioned chef, focused on pickling and preserving. Skills such as how to prolong the life of seasonal fruit. He did some really wonderful things with flavouring pickling liquids.
I did a British street food demo. I did a take on Indian – broccoli dosa with chickpea flour and a sweet potato and bacon filling with a pomegranate and beetroot dressing – really colourful. Then I cooked tenderstem broccoli – sautéing it with a bit of chilli and butter with some nice wild garlic alioli.
I was really intrigued by Douglas McMaster, who runs a restaurant called Silo in Brighton. The title of his talk was ‘WASTED: Insight into a unique, responsible approach to cooking’. He recycles everything, makes cheese from old milk, has zero waste.
It was a nice to see that people seemed to be steering back towards some of the classic techniques. Water baths have their place but use them wisely. Chefs are going back to sautéing in a pan and caramelising in butters. The proper old school ways of cooking.
A few years ago it was the other way around. It was all gels, foams and water baths. You sometimes forget these old techniques and why they are useful.
I also did some work for McCain. I had to think out of the box. What do you do with mashed potato? Rather than doing a croquette, I did a chocolate and fennel pollen cake (see recipe below). I used butter and sugar and used polenta in the mashed potato. I gave the cake some stability with an egg. Then you bake it like a sponge. I did a chocolate and orange sauce to go with it. McCain loved it because they had never once thought to put their mashed potato in a dessert. They don’t usually get chefs like me that are that creative.
Chocolate and fennel pollen cake with chocolate and orange sauce
Ingredients
100g butter, softened
100g caster sugar
2 eggs
80g fine polenta
20g dark coco powder
130g mashed potatoes (McCain)
zest 1 orange
2g fennel pollen or toasted fennel seeds
1 tsp gluten-free baking powder
Method
- In a large bowl, cream butter, orange, fennel and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg bit at a time, beating well after each addition. Add potato and beat in.
- Combine the polenta, cocoa and baking soda; gradually add to creamed mixture beating well
- Pour into a greased and floured ,round baking mould. Bake at 350° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the centre comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.
For the sauce
20g granulated sugar
1 x oranges Juiced plus zest of one
100g dark chocolate
Orange fillets
30g candid orange zest (orange peel julienne blanched and dipped in syrup)
Method
- In a saucepan dilute the sugar and zest into the juice and then bring to a simmer and reduce down to a syrup
- Melt the chocolate into the juice over a low heat then fold in the orange fillets.
- Garnish cake with sauce
Spicy potato balls with onion seed and gram flour crust, with Asian style salad and charred sweet corn and chilli dressing
Ingredients
30mls vegetable oil
5g diced red chilli
1g mustard Seed
1g curry leaves
1g cumin seeds
1g turmeric powder
1g crushed coriander seeds
Garlic and ginger chopped
60g sliced red onion
8g salt
20g chopped coriander
300g simply mash potato (McCain)
1 egg if needed
100g gram flour
10g onion seeds
Oil for frying
Method
- Heat the oil in a frying pan then add the spices and chilli. Cook until seeds start to pop
- Now add the onion, salt, garlic and chilli and cook until onion has softened. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
- In a bowl mix the mash with the onion mix and form a dough. May need some gram flour to dry mix out. Mould into 30g balls.
- Mix the gram flour and onion seeds together. Then If required dip the balls in egg or water and then coat into the gram flour mix. Ensure completely coated
- Heat the oil to 180c then fry balls until even coloured and golden brown remove and drain
Charred sweet corn and chilli relish
Ingredients
1 corn on the cob
60g red onion diced
4g red chilli strips
1g cumin seeds
1g onion seeds
1g turmeric
10g garlic and ginger
50g balsamic vinegar
50g honey
10g grain mustard
10g chopped coriander
30g rapeseed oil
Method
- In a griddle pan or under a grill char the corn cob all over and then allow to cool slightly
- Warm the oil in a frying pan and then add the spice and cook for a minute or so .
- Now add the garlic, ginger, onion and chilli and fry off now add the honey and vinegar and bring to the boil and simmer. Reduce by half
- Using a sharp knife cut the charred corn kernals of the cob. Then add this and the remaining ingredients to the pan and warm through
Salad Ingredients
40g carrot julienne
40g shredded Brussel sprouts
30g sliced spring onions
10g baby kayle leaves
Dukkah spice mix
Method
- Combine all the vegetables together mix a small amount of the dressing and then sprinkle over the spice mix
Chilli charred Tender stem broccoli with wild garlic butter and Aoli sauce
Ingredients
200g tender stem broccoli
10g sliced red chilli strips de-seeded
50g butter salted
10g Wild garlic
40g cooked butter beans
Egg yolk
20g Lime juice
100g Vegetable oil
Sea salt
Method
- Blanch tender stem broccoli in boiling salted water for a few minutes then refresh in cold water
- Whisk the egg yolk with the lime juice and then slowly add the oil to form a sauce
- Chop the wild garlic and then blend the butter beans with the Aoli base. Folding the wild garlic
To serve stand the brocooli stems in a bucket and have the dip in a mini bucket allow the crowd to munch and dip.
Roasted sweet potato and bacon dosa with wild garlic and beetroot dressing
For the dosa
Ingredients
100g of gram flour
100g rice flour
10g dried yeast
100ml coconut milk
Warm Water
5g sugar
50g broccoli puree
5g chopped coriander
Method
- Combine all the ingredients together to form a thickish batter. Leave to prove in a warm place for about 20 minutes
- Heat a frying pan and add some oil. Make little thin pancakes and cook on both side
- Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly
For the dressing
Ingredients
100g cooked beetroot fine dice
10g wild garlic leaves chopped
20g pomegranate seeds
100ml greek style yoghurt
½ lime juice
10g chopped coriander
Toasted cumin seeds
Method
- Combine all ingredients and either leave rustic or blend to a smooth sauce
For the filling
Ingredients
1 large sweet potato peeled and rustic dice
6 rashers of dry cured bacon lardons
10g chopped coriander
½ lemon juice
1 spring onion finely sliced
Rapeseed oil
Method
- in a frying pan fry the bacon lardons so a nice caramilised colour is achieved then remove and keep to one side
- add a touch of water to the pan to lift off the residue and then add the oil
- add the sweet potato. Colour and cook to a nice caramelised look. Then add the bacon to warm through remove from the heat and then mix with the remaining ingredients
To serve lay a dosa out and then place a little dressing on the base. Add some of the filling and roll up. Cut into two pieces and then drizzle over the dressing.